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LENGTH: Short Story
SENSUALITY: Carnal

Cover art (c) Amber Moon 2008
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He wanted forever …. For a thousand years, Mercury had waited for her and he couldn’t contain himself any longer. Stealing away to her villa, he lavished her with his loving until she yielded to him—heart, body, mind, and soul.

Rating: Carnal--Adult language and situations.

ASCENDING VENUS

By

Layne Blacque

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

Chapter One

Mercury gripped his goblet so fiercely it nearly shattered in his hands. The enchanted stone he thought he’d lost forever had become the centerpiece in Juno’s gem-encrusted crown!

I might have known, he thought testily.

On the night he had received the Kadrai Diamond, he’d been severely wounded by an arrow shot by Mars, his rival. Though he’d been certain the warrior deity had taken the magnificent stone, he had no proof. Until now.

The bastard had given it to his greedy mother!

He skulked along the four corners of the great Hall of Gable, yet everywhere he turned, he heard Jupiter’s mighty voice. The ruler of the gods was in his element that night entertaining his guests with ancient party tricks. Mercury thought it odd that Jupiter would enjoy the idea of Halloween—a holiday that seemed to play on human fears and superstitions. But for millennia, the jocular king had commanded all under Olympus’ sway to appear at court, dressed as lowly ghosts, goblins, and ghouls.

By the time Juno—who had declined dressing down as Lady Godiva in favor of actually shifting into that legendary visage—began chasing her wayward husband about the garden, threatening all manner of trouble, Mercury knew it was time to make his escape. He felt no sympathy for the great king. After all, who shape-shifts into a stallion and carries off a human woman in full view of his jealous wife?

Besides, if the angry goddess had not set after her philandering husband, her wrath would surely turn on him. When Juno had angrily set her bejeweled crown on the banquet table, he had waited for his hostess to turn her attention elsewhere. The moment she trained her eyes on her husband, Mercury moved to stand behind her. “You’re the most beautiful woman here,” he said as he plucked out the centerpiece and palmed it in his hand. Caressing her elbow as he moved to the door, he noted the cold smile Juno flashed at him. She quickly turned her attention back to Jupiter—dismissing the nimble-fingered messenger of the gods. He inhaled deeply. If Juno suspected anyone of deceiving her that evening, it wasn’t Mercury.

He felt a little sorry for her. It was obvious that the Kadrai Diamond had worked none of its enchantments on her long marriage. If it had, the beautiful queen would never have doubted her husband’s fidelity.

Clutching the gemstone, he marveled at its weight before blinking it out of sight. Though he felt perfectly within his right to take back the jewel that had been stolen from him, Mercury was smart enough to know his actions would cause him trouble if he got caught. Though Juno often made a show of manners and grace, she could be a lethal entity when crossed—even if she was the one to start the trouble.

Not that I’d stay even if I could, he thought, disappointment churning through him.

The other reason he had for attending Jupiter’s soiree had left just before his arrival. If he left immediately, he could beat Venus back to her villa and plead his case. He had waited too long to have her in his arms again. He was determined to make up for lost time.

A sliver of doubt lingered in his belly as he thought of her. So much time had passed since their last meeting. Would she be happy to see him? Or had the most beautiful of all the gods forgotten about the connection they had once shared?

Determined to find out, he took flight from Olympus, zooming through the clouds in a blur of electric violet light. In a blink of one of his smoky gray eyes, he stood on the threshold of Villa Amore, Venus’s home. Flabbergasted, he touched the bottom of her black cloak. Grinning, he noted that in the spirit of the ghastly holiday, the goddess had attended the party in the guise of Elizabeth Bathory, the Blood Countess.

“How did you beat me here?” he demanded.

Fixing strange dark eyes on him, Venus smiled through blood-red lips. “I knew you’d be coming.” With a snap of her fingers, she morphed from a thin, scarily pale vampire into a shapely, fragrant-smelling goddess with sea-green eyes and dewy bronzed skin. Tossing back wavy, waist-length black hair, she pushed open the gates and beckoned him inside. “You’re not as quick as you think.”

“And you’re not that beautiful,” he lied.

Grinning at him, she studied his form. Noting his plain blue jeans, stark white tee shirt and sneakers, she furrowed her brow. “Who are you supposed to be?”

“What—can’t you tell?” He turned to the side and flexed his muscles.

She rubbed her chin. “I’m drawing a blank.”

Exasperated, he stopped flexing and went to her. “I’m an Average Joe—a regular human male,” he explained, pointing at his wristwatch. Pulling a cell phone and thick wallet from his back pocket, he displayed them. “See?”

She giggled and his eyes were drawn to her heaving bosom. “I thought you had more imagination than that, Mercury. I’m a little disappointed in you.”

“What do you want from me, lady? I wouldn’t even have gone to that party if it hadn’t been for you being there.” He grabbed her elbow, pulling her close. “You knew I’d come to see you. Why’d you leave so damn early? You playing some kind of game here?” He dropped her arm and gave her a look he hoped was a glare. But he found he couldn’t make his face show a displeasure he didn’t feel. He was ecstatic to finally be in her presence again.

She placed her hands on her curvy hips. Her gauzy pink tunic shifted across her body, accentuating the shape of her heavenly breasts. “Did you come here to fight? That’s the kind of behavior I’d expect from Mars.”

Jealousy slammed his gut. He crossed his arms over his rippling chest. “If the rumors I heard were true, you and Mars never argued that much. You were too busy fucking each other—at least you were whenever you could sneak away from Vulcan.”

“Why bring up ancient history, Mercury? Vulcan and I divorced, oh, it must be nearly eight hundred years ago. Mars and I stopped seeing each other shortly after.”

“And yet you never came to me,” he said, moving to pull her into his arms. As he held her, she shimmered in and out of focus. “Do you remember the night I came to you in Rome? You said you needed me. I was there for you. I told you I always would be.”

Her eyes misted over and her full heart-shaped mouth formed into a smirk. “I also told you that you traveled too much for me to consider getting involved with you. You’re never home,” she said through a pout. “I don’t do long distance relationships. They’re too hard. I’d miss you too much.”

Stroking her face, he bent and touched a quick kiss to her cheek. “This is the modern era. It’s not often I have to fly off to deliver grand messages of great importance anymore. Hell, even Pluto doesn’t sulk in the bowels of the earth as much as he once did. And I hear Neptune leaves his water castle once a week to check his email!”

She undulated against him, wrapping her arms around his slim but powerful shoulders. Her mouth parted, and he nearly went crazy at the feel of her breath against his face. It smelled so sweet—honeyed ambrosia stroking his senses. His cock thickened, pulsing hard against the soft curve of her belly. “I love you,” he said, uttering the words he’d wanted to say for a thousand years.

“Everyone loves me.”

“Yeah, but everyone isn’t me, Venus. And you damn well know it!” Unbeknownst to her, he held a gift he’d been attempting to give to her for over a thousand years. The Kadrai Diamond heated in his hand, scorching his fingertips. It pushed against his fingers in an attempt to pry open his palm. He knew the stone would not rest until it was claimed by its rightful owner.

But uncertainty caused him to hold back his presentation. He’d already chosen the perfect lover. Now he waited for the perfect moment.

Seizing Venus, he lifted her into his arms. Enfolding them in a blinding light, he winked the pliant goddess into her bedroom.

Upon seeing what Mercury had done, Venus laughed.

Reclining on her king-sized circular bed, she caressed the silken sheets Arachne had specially woven for her. The room was suffused by Venusian light—violets, pinks, and deep greens. Through her open window, she clearly heard the jovial laugh of a partying Jupiter, though thousands of miles separated them.

Fixing the most beautiful eyes ever created on her randy suitor, she pouted. Mercury stood at the end of the bed, looking more beautiful than any being had a right to. He’d sheared off his shoulder-length platinum hair since she’d seen him last. Now his curly mop lay close to his head, except at the very top where a couple of lustrous tendrils dipped over his molten silver eyes.

“You mean to seduce me?”

“Surely,” he murmured, moving close to her bare foot. Running his hand against her heel, he smiled, revealing brilliant white teeth. “Despite the fact that you rule love, it is still in the public domain.” Slowly, he unbuckled his belt and undid the top button on his jeans.

Her nipples hardened and a warm ache tightened her belly. She loved him. She probably always had. But their timing had always been so off! She and the messenger had flirted for an eon before she married Vulcan, the lame god of the forge. Knowing her husband was liable to burn Mercury alive inside one of his giant metal ovens, she’d tearfully begged her almost-lover to stay away.

By the time she got up the courage to leave her jealous husband, she’d been firmly embroiled in a heated affair with Mars—something she would always regret. She’d only gone with the red-haired brute with the out-sized muscles because he’d led her to believe that Mercury had found love with a human male! Once the truth came out—Mars had ambushed Mercury along the Xinda River, sidelining the smaller, faster god with a poisoned dart borrowed from the mischievous Cupid—she’d realized her mistake.

But Pride and Fate had stopped her from going to her beloved immediately in the wake of all that had happened. Somehow being the total embodiment of love had done nothing to stop her from wondering if she and Mercury were really meant to be.

Before she could raise this point, however, she watched, stunned, as Mercury raised something else. Winking at her, he dropped his pants and displayed his magnificent cock. She licked her lips and felt her breathing quicken as he trailed the shaft along the back of her foot. His cock’s girth surprised her. Nearly as thick around as her arm, it seemed to move on its own accord, molesting her feet with lascivious intent. “You’re bad,” she said finally, giggling as his hot, hard cock tickled her heels. “I should’ve known the messenger of the gods would be a foot fetishist.”

“You don’t believe in fetishes,” he growled, working his cock between her feet in a sensuous rhythm. “It’s all love, isn’t it?”

Her answer was to wave her hand. The pink tunic that had hidden her passion for him evaporated. Now he was able to see the large hard buds of her nipples standing against the backdrop of her succulent sienna-hued areolas. Her dark hair was a long dark cloak surrounding her honeyed skin. Following Mercury’s lead, she began to move her feet back and forth, up and down his cock.

“Ah, keep doing that,” he croaked. His eyes were trained on her pussy—a golden brown mound with a small tuft of wavy hair just above the lips. “Goddess, you’re beautiful.”

“As are you,” she said, feeling her love and lust intermingle and take flight. Tightening her feet around his engorged shaft, she took control, caressing his cock until he threw back his fair head and groaned. Her eyes misted over, for she could feel his pleasure in her very soul. “I want to taste your love,” she whispered. “Sprinkle it over me now.”

She watched his beautiful lips part and his eyes close. He soon lurched against her feet—one, two, three times—unloading a torrent of thick, milky fluid that floated in hot rapid arcs. Venus opened her mouth wide, flicking out her tongue to taste the sweetness of her lover. His raw essence glided over her tongue and down her throat—a tasty nectar that reminded her of mid-summer tree sap.

Mercury grinned impishly and fisted his still-hard cock. Climbing onto the bed, he growled over her. “You’re going to have to do a lot better than that. I’ve waited several centuries to get my hands on you. A foot job ain’t getting you off the hook!”

“You’re so common,” she scolded. “Trafficking with humans has coarsened you.”

He shrugged. “You love it.”

That she did. She loved his rawness. She adored the way he dismissed the old ways of speaking, living, and being. Mercury was his own god—one who did whatever he wanted. At that moment, he wanted to do her.

Opening her legs, she began caressing her mons.

“Tease,” he groaned, reaching down to help. Together their fingers massaged and stroked her clit into a taut ball of need. Venus shuddered and closed her eyes. She lifted her thighs to lock his wandering hand on her yearning cunt. Flicking out his tongue, Mercury bent to taste her. His tongue sent liquid fire into her belly. Helplessly, she arched her curvy back, bucking against his lips. Moaning deeply in her throat, she reached out and caressed loving fingers through his hair, pulling him closer. His hot wet tongue spiraled over her clit, licking profane promises into her open flesh. Her pussy pulsed and creamed at his urging, dripping freely.

“Ugh, God!” Venus screamed. She cried out her pleasure, thrusting her hips uncontrollably. When he darted his tongue into her cunt, she screamed his name.

Looking up, Mercury grinned. “You taste even better than you look.” Quickly pulling away his hand, he grasped her legs and positioned them over his shoulders. “Question is, do you feel as good as you taste?”

Wasting no time, he thrust into her, impaling her on his length. Venus whimpered at the force of his thrust. Her pussy gripped him, pulling him deeper inside her. His next thrust rocked her, nearly paralyzing her with the force of its sensuous savagery.

Positioning her quivering thighs around his waist, he leaned over her and raked his hand into her lustrous hair. “Now that we’re finally together, V, I’m never letting you go.”

I wouldn’t let you! she thought.

He claimed her mouth, and their tongues tangled passionately. Their bodies continued to collide, sparking an unearthly pleasure in both of them.

His thrusts were beautiful in their perfect rhythm, yet feral with barely contained control. Venus’ cunt stretched around his cock, creaming more with his every movement. The sounds of their combining flesh hypnotized her—a harmonious testament of their merging desire. Her pussy clamped on his cock, holding him deep in the shell of her body.

His cock pulsated at her center, sending her on a wave of pleasure that caused her eyes to roll back in her head. With a guttural moan, he came, exploding hot cum inside her. Venus screamed as her cunt clutched around him, wallowing shamelessly in the sensation of his hot cum spurting inside her.

Mercury groaned into her neck then ran a kiss along her collarbone. “Wow.”

“I’ll second that,” she whispered. Goose bumps stood on her flesh, making her shiver. He looked at her with such love and desire that she felt overwhelmed by him. Every touch they shared unveiled new layers of a passion that had simmered for so long. Now that passion sparked, burning out of control.

Venus took in a long breath. When he lifted his head to look at her, she gasped in realization.

Looking into his eyes, she thought she understood true love for the very first time.